Deepcool Dracula: Super Efficiency without Much Noise. Page 3

Compatibility and Installation

Deepcool Dracula installation is very simple, so even if you don’t have the manual, you can install the heatsink onto the graphics card and the frame with fans into the system case intuitively. The detailed dimensions layout of the new Dracula cooler provided above will help you figure out whether it is compatible with your specific graphics accelerator or not. However, you can also refer to the following picture showing the distances between the retention holes:

As you can see, the numerous holes in the Dracula retention brackets make it practically fully universal, and the only thing that may limit its compatibility with graphics accelerators is the size.

To fasten the heatsink on the GPU you should use the enclosed threaded mounts (there are two different sets). These mounts should be inserted into the retention plates first:

After that you should apply a layer of thermal paste onto the GPU surface, install the heatsink and secure it in place by tightening the screw-nuts on the bottom of the graphics card on top of the backplate:

Even though the backplate pushes directly against the graphics card PCB, there is no need to worry about short circuiting, because there is a pretty thick insulating pad on the backplate. However, it would be nice to get a few additional bushes, which could prevent the backplate from sitting directly on the textolite and pushing against the electronic components on it.

This is what Deepcool Dracula looks like when it is installed onto GeForce GTX 580:

As we can see, Dracula heatsink doesn’t go beyond the PCB edges, which is very important. We would also like to point out that there is a 20 mm gap between the internal edge of the heatsink fins and the PCB textolite, which is more than enough to fit compact heatsinks onto the VRM and video memory chips. During our test session we didn’t stick the heatsinks onto the memory chips. As for the VRM components, they were already covered with an aluminum heatsink with sufficient cooling efficiency.

After that we install the graphics card into the mainboard slot and this is when the most interesting things start happening. You should install the stand for the fan frame into the slot next to the graphics card:

This frame will be attached not only with one screw at the top, but also with a retention plate to the back of the system case:

After that you can use a pair of screws and screw-nuts to fasten two Deepcool fans to the long metal bracket:

The slits in this bracket allow moving the fans along the steel plate. For additional sturdiness you can use metal pads with self-tapping screws to hold the bottom of the fan in place.

After that simply attach the frame with the fans to the mounting stand.

I can’t help mentioning that in a vertical system case the fans’ weight was still pulling them down a bit, despite the sturdy retention mechanism. Therefore, in order to avoid loss of efficiency because of the increased gap between the fan and the heatsink we recommend using some kind of support beneath the bottom edge of the fan frame, which will push against the PSU or the bottom of the system case. The only thing left to add at this point is that this entire structure will completely block all four PCI slots on the mainboard.